Long Story Short - Taylor Swift

Chapter 22

Sitting in the living room of Taylor's Nashville home, three adults and one five-year-old were all looking a little confused.

Quinn was on the floor, she was trying to put together a puzzle and was not listening to the adults. She had been working on it for quite a while and every time Taylor offered to help, she refused and gave her a dirty look.

Aspyn was sitting with her legs crossed and her hands nervously fidgeting as Taylor on the same sofa, in sweatpants just a space away, was pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

Michael was sitting with his back up straight, constantly checking his watch and phone, maybe for an excuse not to be there. He was in a chair across from them, it was a very standoffish moment.

"Fifty percent custody?" Taylor furrowed her eyebrows, "Absolutely not, that's ridiculous. You've only met her once."

"That's why I'm saying," Michael sighed, "But it will jeopardize the adoption if we don't at least try and give the semblance that we are listening to the judge's instructions."

"When the adoption goes through, you won't be part of it. It'll just be me on the birth certificate, as far as I'm concerned you've always been a sperm donor," the actress added with a slight tone, her words biting at the man as they landed. She was angry about the situation and after seeing both Daniel and Deborah in one day, she'd had more than enough.

"You think I want this? I have a baby coming in three weeks, I can't even be here right now. My wife is on bed rest."

"Then why are you here?! If you didn't come to the trial, we wouldn't be in this stupid mess."

"Quinnie," Taylor stood up quickly, the voices of the room were getting loud and angry and she didn't want the child around that, "Can you come with me? I think it's time for some ice cream."

"Yeah!" Quinn smiled widely as she hopped up off the floor fast and ran out of the living room, turning the wrong way because she had forgotten how to get to the kitchen and then sped past the archway again once she realized.

Now that it was just Aspyn and Michael, Aspyn pulled her hands up to her face and rubbed it with both palms, trying to find just a moment of clarity in her mess of a life but finding no such relief.

"I will take Quinn for ice cream... we can take some pictures together at the park. You can come, I'll say my sister took the pictures or something and bring a few outfits so it'll look like different days. We can do one day, a few parks and restaurants and stuff. Oh, there's a freaking carnival next weekend, that'd be perfect too," Michael said with a few pauses, but it mostly came off like he had been thinking about it for a long time already.

"So you'd actually rather fake spending time with our daughter than actually just spend time with her?" Aspyn said softly, it was kind of disappointing. It was better than him not spending any time with her, but it was worse because someday when Quinn began to ask questions, Aspyn would answer them and she would piece together very small fragments of Michael's presence.

"You said it yourself," Michael stood up, "I'm just a sperm donor."

"You're also responsible for half of her expenses," the actress put on a brave face.

"I'll foot the bill for private school," the man chuckled while slipping his hands in his pockets, "Or, are you going to rip that up again?"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand doesn't cover private school and university."

"I'll make it three-fifty, here, I'll do it right bloody now," he pulled his chequebook out and wrote a cheque, tearing it off and adding, "See you next Saturday at eight in the morning. I'll pick you up from your flat."